My lips pursed as I eyed him in the bright morning sunlight. “Why is now any different?”

“Well, you see…” He glanced desperately at the other guards filling the southwestern side of the courtyard. They offered no assistance. “It’s because…”

“I’m now the Queen?” I supplied for him. “Because I’m the Primal of Life? Or is it because my husband is Nyktos?” I tipped the sword so it came within an inch of the underside of his jaw. “And you’re more worried about what he will do to you if he learns you sparred with me than you are concerned with what I will do?”

“It’s none of those reasons,” Kars objected.

“He’s lying.”

Kars’ narrowed-eye gaze swung to our left. “I am not lying.”

“Yes, he is,” the quiet voice came again. “I can smell it.”

Frowning, I glanced over my shoulder at Reaver. He was seated on a large, gray boulder, his blond hair shielding most of his face as he eyed the burlap sack nestled in his lap.

Shortly after Ash had left for Vathi this morning, I’d crossed paths with Reaver and Jadis, and they had been by my side ever since. Well, he had been. Jadis…

My gaze flickered over the courtyard, looking for the girl. I found her in a few seconds.

Jadis was otherwise occupied.

The greenish-brown draken ran through the newly grown grass, trailing a strip of blue silk. I had no idea where she’d gotten that piece of cloth, which meant I probably should’ve kept a better eye on her than Pax, who trailed behind her.

It felt like forever since I’d seen the orphan Ash had brought into the Shadowlands nearly a decade ago. The fifteen-year-old now lived with a family in Lethe but spent a decent amount of time in the palace, doing odds-and-ends jobs. He eagerly tackled those tasks, and I thought it was because he liked being around Ash and wanted to prove himself useful. Maybe even show gratitude.

I refocused on Reaver. “You can smell it?”

“It’s in his sweat.” Reaver reached into the sack and rooted around. “The stench changes.”

“What the fuck?” Kars muttered.

“Language,” I warned him. “There are younglings present.”

Kars’ mouth dropped open. “Five minutes ago, you shouted that very same word.”

“I did not.”

“Really?” Kars replied dryly.

I had, in fact, yelled it. At the top of my lungs, too. But that was because I’d decided that my time was better spent training instead of pacing and waiting for Ash to return so we could go to the Thyia Plains and speak with Keella—who he’d sent word to this morning. When I first approached Bele and asked her to train with me, she had, without warning, thrown a godsdamn dagger at my head right before running back into the palace like some kind of psychotic woodland nymph—

Which reminded me of those Nektas and I had seen when we returned from the Vale. I wondered if they had changed after the balance was restored. Returning to…well, non-psychotic versions of themselves.

I needed to check on that later.

“You must be imagining things,” I said.

Reaver giggled, and the sound was so unexpected that it drew Kars’ and my attention.

The godling’s lips curled into a smile. “By the way.” Kars pointed his sword at Reaver. “I do not stink.”

“You can’t smell it, but I can.” Reaver pulled a glistening red apple from the sack—his fourth or fifth of the morning. “Your scent becomes more…bitter.”

I wondered if I should intervene with his snacking because that seemed like a whole lot of apples. But apples were healthy, weren’t they?

“You are the Queen and the true Primal of Life. None of them will want to fight you,” Reaver said, sounding far too wise for his age. He bit into the apple with a crunch. “And he’s worried what Nyktos will do.”

I faced Kars, raising an eyebrow.

“Someone needs to fight with her,” Reaver added before Kars could respond. “If not, she’s gonna start pacing again.”

I would.

“It’s because she worries a lot,” he went on between mouthfuls of apple. “Even though she’ll say she doesn’t.”

I opened my mouth.

Half the apple was already gone. “I can sense when you lie, too,” he said, which I already knew. I was trying not to be anxious around him. “Your sweat changes, too.” His upper lip curled. “It becomes tangy.”

I stared at the draken, resisting the urge to sniff myself. “You know—”

A shrill screech interrupted us as one of the palace side doors opened, and Aios stepped out with Bele.

Well, I finally knew where Jadis had gotten that piece of silk. It matched the missing lower section of the blue gown Aios wore.

I shifted my attention back to Reaver. The little brat had been mostly correct with his earlier statement about my pacing. If I didn’t do something, I would get stuck in my head, and I didn’t want to be where I would stress over how things were going between Ash and Attes, if I had made the right choice by offering Kolis a deal, and how the upcoming meeting with the Primals would go. And if I wasn’t thinking about any of that, I was half-afraid my mind would end up revisiting my time in Dalos.

And I didn’t need that in my life.

I also didn’t need Reaver pointing out every time I lied. “Perhaps you should assist with Jadis,” I suggested.

Reaver’s eyes widened. “I’d rather not.” He clutched the burlap sack. “She’ll want to eat all my apples.”

“You mean there are actually some left?”

He nodded earnestly. “She always eats my apples.”

“And would that be a problem? I think you’ve had enough,” I said. “For a lifetime.”

“Nek said you can’t ever eat too many apples,” he argued.

I started to explain that Nektas probably didn’t mean he should eat a dozen of them but decided against it. I had a feeling I’d have an even harder time convincing Reaver of that than getting Kars to fight me.

Turning back to Kars, I spotted Saion. As he crossed the courtyard, he cut a striking figure in a sleeveless, dark gray tunic. I was surprised to see him since he had spoken of surveying some of the lands for crops after the meeting with Attes.

An easy smile appeared on his handsome face as he approached. “Heard you were looking to do some damage.”

Curious as to exactly how he’d heard that, I shifted my grip on the sword. “I wouldn’t say I was looking to do any damage.”

The curve of his lips kicked up a notch as he nodded at Kars and then focused on me. “Walk with me?”

The look of relief on Kars’ face didn’t pass me by. “Sure.”

Saion extended an arm toward the section of the Rise opposite where Jadis was. “You can leave the sword.”

Sighing, I thrust the blade into the grass. The god ducked his chin, coughing faintly in a poor attempt to hide his laugh. I frowned as Kars pivoted, practically running toward the rest of the guards as they gradually dispersed.

“I’ll be here,” Reaver announced, pulling yet another apple from the bag. “Waiting.”

Nodding, I joined Saion and fell into step beside him. “That has to be his sixth apple.”

“Only six?”

My head snapped toward him.

“I’ve seen him eat fifteen in one sitting.”

“Good gods,” I murmured.

“Draken have crazy appetites,” he reminded me, tilting his chin. The sunlight glanced off his warm brown cheek. “Especially when they’re this young. They’ll eat you out of house and home if you’re unprepared.”

“No doubt.”

“By the way, a little bird told me what you were up to,” he said, squinting as he turned his gaze to the pale blue sky.

“Uh-huh.” My lips pursed. “And does this little bird also happen to be a guard?”

“I’ll never tell.” He winked, and my eyes rolled. “But the chirping this bird did wasn’t out of malicious intent. Only concern.”

“Can we stop pretending that you were speaking to a bird?” I asked. “And get to the point where I tell you I’m completely fine and capable of training, even though I just completed my Ascension?”